joli

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French joly (“considerable, ingenious, agreeable, pretty”), from Old French joli, jolif (“pretty, smart, joyful, merry”), possibly from Old Norse jól (midwinter festival), from Proto-Germanic *jehwlą, *jeulō (“Yule, Yule month, December”) (more at yule); alternatively from Vulgar Latin *gaudivus (from Latin gaudeō, more at joy).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʒɔ.li/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

joli (feminine jolie, masculine plural jolis, feminine plural jolies)

1. pretty; cute
   • 1980, Géza Képes, Béla Kàlmàn, Péter Domokos, Le pouvoir du chant : anthologie de la poésie populaire ouralienne:

     Julie, fille jolie, un jour était allée
     cueillir au cœur des blés la belle fleur des blés,
     des bleuets pour s’en faire une couronne bleue,
     se faire une couronne et se distraire un peu.

     Julie, a pretty girl, had gone one day
     to pick among the wheat the beautiful flower of the cornfields,
     cornflowers to make herself a blue wreath,
     to make herself a wreath and amuse herself a little.

2. (Louisiana) jolly, nice, pleasant, agreeable

   Synonym: agréable

Synonyms

• mignon

Derived terms

• faire joli
• jolie laide
• joliment

Related terms

• enjoliver

See also

• beau

Further reading

• “joli”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Indonesian

Etymology

From Javanese ꦗꦺꦴꦭꦶ (joli, “palanquin”), from Old Javanese joli (“palanquin”), from Sanskrit दोला (dolā, “litter”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒoli/
• Rhymes: -li, -i
• Hyphenation: jo‧li

Noun

joli (plural joli-joli)

1. palanquin

   Synonyms: duli, tandu, usungan

2. pair

   Synonym: pasangan

3. yawl, jolly-boat

Derived terms

• sejoli

 

Further reading

• “joli” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Lower Sorbian

Alternative forms

• jolic

Etymology

jo +‎ -li

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈjɔli/, [ˈjɔlʲi]

Conjunction

joli

1. if

Usage notes

May optionally be followed by the conjunction až (“that”).

Synonyms

• -li
• gaž
• gaby

Further reading

• Muka, Arnošt (1921, 1928) “joli”, in Słownik dolnoserbskeje rěcy a jeje narěcow (in German), St. Petersburg, Prague: ОРЯС РАН, ČAVU; Reprinted Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag, 2008
• Starosta, Manfred (1999) “joli”, in Dolnoserbsko-nimski słownik / Niedersorbisch-deutsches Wörterbuch (in German), Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag

Norman

Etymology

From Old French joli (“pretty, cute”), jolif (“pretty, smart, joyful, merry”), possibly from Old Norse jól (midwinter festival), from Proto-Germanic *jehwlą, *jeulō (“Yule, Yule month, December”) (more at yule); alternatively from Vulgar Latin *gaudivus (from Latin gaudeō, more at joy).

Adjective

joli m

1. (Jersey) pretty

Derived terms

• jolîment (“prettily”)

Old French

Etymology

From an earlier jolif.

Adjective

joli m (oblique and nominative feminine singular jolie)

1. pretty; cute